Daughters of Triton
by kiminicricket
Summary: Ariel and Eric are married and living happily ever after, but what about her sisters? And what is happening with the Trident lately?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The glowing redhead appeared out of the captain's cabin in a stunning white dress and the crowd gasped with delight. There was no mistaking the look of love in her eyes, which did not stray, even once, away from the eyes of her betrothed. She made her way slowly down the aisle towards this man, and the clergyman who was to join them in matrimony on this fine October day.

From my place in the water, as I watched my youngest sister walk down the aisle towards her prince, I couldn't hold in a dreamy sigh. She looked so in love! Out of the seven of us, Ariel was most like our mother in looks, with her flowing red hair and big, expressive blue eyes. I knew that father would probably be struggling today, both with letting his youngest daughter go, and with memories of his own wedding, with Ariel looking so much like his late wife.

I stole a quick glance over at father, and noted the tears standing in his eyes as he watched his youngest pledge her life to this man. Of course, his tears started my own, and in a very short amount of time I was blubbering into my hands like a baby.

"Hold it together Arista!" Andrina muttered to me under her breath from her place beside me. I laughed a little, but could not stem the tears from flowing down my face. Andrina rolled her eyes, but wrapped her arm around my shoulders and squeezed me close, offering comfort.

I leaned into her, and managed to compose myself just in time to watch Ariel and Eric be pronounced husband and wife. They leaned towards each other and shared the perfect kiss, which just started the tears all over again.

"Sheesh you'd think someone was dying," Andrina muttered quietly. But she did not remove her arm from my shoulders.

It was no surprise to any of us girls that Ariel was the first to fall in love. What did come as a surprise to all of us was that she fell in love with a human. While Ariel had our mother's looks, she definitely had our father's courage, curiosity, and stubbornness. Those traits had taken her on many adventures, but also landed her in trouble more often than not. But they had also led her to find love sooner than any one of us. And while we couldn't be happier for her, a small part of me was insanely jealous that my younger sister was already married and I didn't even have a beau on the horizon.

We were up on the surface a long time, staying for the party and fireworks that always accompany a royal human wedding. The fireworks were amazing, and I found myself staring up at the sky in awe. I had never seen much of the sky before, but it was beautiful with all the sparkly dots in it, and the fireworks, making it light up with different colours made it all the more incredible.

Indeed it was a quiet group of mermaids swimming back to Atlantica that night. We were all worn out from a day on the surface, but our minds were filled with happy with thoughts that our younger sister had found true love.

The last thing on my mind before sleep claimed me that night was a hope that somewhere out there, there was a love like that for me.

* * *

><p>Hello Friends!<p>

So welcome to my new work.. this chapter is quite short, but the ones to come will likely be quite long..

anyways, really hope you enjoy, as always please leave a review and let me know what you think :)

KC


	2. Arista, Part 1

**Arista**

I was clinging to the last slivers of sleep when Aquata threw a pillow at me.

"Arista, you stole my sleeping mask AGAIN!" she screeched, snatching said mask from my face.

I sighed and sat up, bracing myself. We were about to go at it again apparently. I had a quick look around the room, but it appeared our sisters had already left for breakfast.

I had a bad habit of borrowing my sister's things without permission. It wasn't something I did on purpose. I just couldn't usually find my own items so borrowed their stuff. Most of them were really easy going about it, simply taking it back when they needed to, but not Aquata. She liked to have all her things in their proper place at all times. It was a wonder how she survived sharing a room with six other girls for all these years.

"Oops," I shrugged my shoulders and tried to smile angelically.

"This is really starting to get old Arista!" She snapped at me. I sighed and threw myself backward onto my clam bed.

"Sorry, its not like they are easy to tell apart," I mumbled. Unfortunately Aquata was in quite the mood today, and was not easily mollified.

"It was sitting on MY dresser, next to MY bed, with all of MY other stuff!" she swam right over to me and a fight might have broken out, but our eldest sister, Attina swam in, grinning from ear to ear, silencing us for the moment.

"Ariel's given birth! It's a girl! She and Eric are bringing her out to meet everyone this afternoon!"

Fight forgotten, Aquata and I stared at each other, smiles breaking over our faces.

"A baby!"

"A Girl!"

"Does she have a tail or legs?" I asked of Attina who stared at me like I had taken leave of my senses.

"What? That's a fair question," Andrina added, having come back into the room in time to hear my question and take in Attina's shocked face.

Andrina kept moving through to her dresser and began to brush her hair.

"I mean Ariel used to have a tail... anything's possible or whatever," she said.

Attina still hadn't said anything when Adella and Alana came gushing in.

"Did you hear? Oh its wonderful news!"

"We have a niece! A niece!" the two joined hands and started spinning.

"Yeah, and apparently she's got a tail," Andrina said dryly.

Adella and Alana stopped and stared at Andrina much the same way Attina had been staring at me. I giggled.

Attina lowered her eyebrows and finally spoke.

"Ariel is human now, completely. She would have given birth to a normal human baby. Now lets stop this silliness and get ready, we are going to the surface this afternoon to meet her."

Andrina and I shared a glance.

"Whatever," she said, going back to doing her hair. I giggled a bit before starting to get myself ready. I grabbed a comb from the nearest dresser, but Adella calmly took it back out of my hand and started combing her hair.

I went back to my own dresser, but I couldn't find my own comb. I sighed and looked underneath it. Sometime soon I was going to have to sort out all of my stuff.

"Aarrrgh" I finally growled in frustration, "I cant find my comb!" my sisters, who had been busy preening and primping in front of their mirrors turned and glanced at me before turning back and gushing about the new baby between themselves. I sighed and flopped back on my bed.

"Ouch!" I moved the cover a bit and my comb tumbled out of the mess of bedding.

I swam for it and grabbed it,

"YES!" I cried out in victory before also taking a seat at my dresser, pushing some of the things aside so I could lean forward and prepare myself.

My sisters, used to such shenanigans, didn't even turn around.

* * *

><p>The huge ship, similar to the one from Ariel's wedding, came farther out to sea as we emerged from the deep. Music could be heard floating down from the deck, and I knew that Ariel and Eric would be as excited to see us as we were to see them.<p>

The grin on my fathers face stretched from ear to ear as he awaited the arrival of his youngest daughter.

Eager myself to see some of the things that my youngest sister had been living with, swam under the ship to the other side and climbed up to have a closer look. I peered through a gap in the side of the ship and saw Eric's pet, slobbering ad barking and running around excitedly, wagging its tail back and forth. Before I could take in much else, a pair of legs blocked my view and I couldn't see any more of the proceedings.

"Hey!" I called out.

Clearly I had startled whoever had stood in front of me, because the next thing I knew, the pair of legs disappeared, and a body dropped past me and splashed into the sea. I looked down from my perch, waiting for the person to re-emerge, but nothing happened.

Sighing to myself, I dove back into the water, looking for the human.

I finally spotted him, struggling to swim, kicking his legs this way and that, but not making much ground. Sighing to myself once again at how helpless humans were in the sea, I swam over to him and grabbed him, swimming swiftly for the surface.

I glanced over my shoulder as we surfaced, but the ship was already quite a distance away. I sighed, knowing I was going to miss the christening and wondering how much trouble I would get in for that, but I figured I better get my sputtering, coughing charge to safety, and then worry about all of that.

I swam over to an outcropping of rocks and helped him climb up.

He crawled up, trying desperately to empty his lungs of water and finally laying down in exhaustion. I watched curiously as he flopped over onto his back and just breathed deeply.

I wondered if I should say something. But then, I had caused his accident, he probably didn't want anything to do with me. Glancing back at the ship, I frowned noticing the storm clouds gathered around it. I wanted to know what was going on, but I couldn't leave the human alone on this outcropping of rocks.

_Maybe I could come back for him? I'll just quickly duck over to the ship, make sure everything is all right, and then come back and make sure he gets home safely._

My mind made up, I slipped into the sea, but the human's hand darted out and grabbed my wrist. I turned wide eyes to stare into his tired face.

It was an attractive face. Big blue eyes surrounded by thick lashes and a head of chocolate brown hair. Never mind that at the moment it resembled a drowned rat, my heart skipped a beat as I realised that this human was very attractive. I finally understood Ariel's desire to spend more time with these creatures.

"You're not leaving me here are you?" the human asked, wheezing and coughing up more water as he spoke.

"I was going to come back and get you, I just wanted to make sure everything was ok with my family." I explained, shrugging, and flipping my blonde hair over my shoulder. "It will only take me a few minutes."

"Please, don't leave me here!" The human asked. I paused, taking in his strained features, and deciding to stay. Another look over at the ship and the sky had cleared back to the normal blue. I sighed. I always missed the action! Oh well no point in returning now, I may as well make sure the human made it back to shore safely.

"Ok." I said, shrugging. I turned back to him and studied him for a moment. He returned the regard, smiling softly.

"I never really believed Eric," he muttered, almost under his breath.

"Never believed him about what?" I asked.

"You."

"Me?" Eric had mentioned me?

"Yeah, mermaids. I thought he had lost his marbles, but here you are." He gestured towards my tail, which I flicked nervously. Wonder filled his blue eyes, and I had to tell my heart to slow down and be normal.

"Thank you, by the way,"

"For what?"

"For saving my life." he reached out and grabbed my hand again. My heart accelerated and my face heated as I stared down at our joined hands.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Arista," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Arista," He repeated, "So beautiful." He reached out to brush some of my hair from my face, but I withdrew.

"Sorry, where are my manners?" he exclaimed, "my name is Edward, I'm Eric's cousin."

"Ariel is my sister," I supplied.

"Are all your sisters as beautiful as you?" Edward asked.

I blushed and looked away, but couldn't hold in a giggle.

"Could you get legs too?" Edward asked. I looked at him quizzically.

"Well, I would love to buy dinner for the woman who saved my life!" he explained, "It would be the least I could do."

I thought on his offer, and my options for getting legs. Father had given Ariel legs, I didn't see why he couldn't give me legs for a single evening. I purposed to ask him for just that when we got home.

"But I suppose in order for me to get you dinner, I would have to get to shore," He said, looking at the distance to the shore from the outcropping where we were conversing.

"Oh here," I held out my hand and he took it, cautiously re-entered the water, a brief look of panic overcoming his face before he composed himself.

"Its ok, I wont let you drown," I encouraged. He nodded at me, but let go of my hand to hold onto the outcropping of rocks.

"Haven't you ever learned to swim before?" I questioned.

He shook his head, no. "My kingdom is inland. I only ever see the ocean when we are visiting Erik. I've never had the opportunity to learn how to swim." He explained.

"Oh, ok, well, its a lot easier if you have a tail and gills, but seeing as you don't…" I trailed off, trying to remember how I had seen humans swimming.

"Oh! well you have to kick your legs, which I cant demonstrate right now, but I'm pretty sure the arm movement goes something like this."

I mimed the movement I had seen Eric and his friends, and even Ariel now that she was human, doing when they were in the water. He watched me, but did not let go of the rocks.

"Ok, well now I am going to come over, and you can hold onto me, and we'll get you back to shore." I encouraged. I swam up to him, and he slowly, one hand at a time, released the rocks and grabbed my hands.

"Good, now kick your legs to keep your head above the water," I coached. His legs kicked furiously, and his head stayed above the water. His hands gripped mine however, in a vice like grip, and I was starting to lose feeling in my fingers.

Figuring the best way would be to just get him to shore quickly, I gave up on the lesson and basically just dragged him into shore.

He crawled out of the water and flopped onto the sand, exhausted.

"Thank you," he mumbled as he lay there gasping for breath.

"No problems!" I said, "goodbye!"

"Wait, Arista!" he called just as I turned to go. I paused and turned my head to look at him.

"Meet me back here tomorrow night?" he entreated.

A smile split my face and I nodded, heart singing in anticipation as I dove back into the sea and made my way back to Atlantica.

* * *

><p>"Absolutely not."<p>

Two simple words crushed my hopes of meeting up with Edward the next evening.

"But father!"

"It is forbidden!" he thundered.

"You're kidding right, please tell me you are kidding?" I exclaimed. Ariel was _married_ to a human for heavens sake. Why was it all of a sudden forbidden again?

"I most certainly am not kidding, and that is the last we shall speak of the subject!"

Holding in the tears, but only barely, I fled the throne room, made my way back to my room and threw myself on my bed.

"Arista? Are you ok?" Alana swam over and perched on the edge of my bed. She laid a hand on my shoulder, "what's wrong?" she asked.

I rolled over so I was facing the ceiling.

"Father said that going to the surface was forbidden!" I cried out, "Why is it all of a sudden forbidden? Ariel married a human for goodness sake, I thought all those rules and stuff were moot now!" I growled in frustration, thinking of Edward and ways I could get around this new rule. I could sneak out. Maybe Morgana could even help me get some legs the way Ursula had helped Ariel. Remembering how that had turned out I quickly dismissed that idea, wracking my brain for any other magicians or sorcerers in the ocean. There was bound to be at least one more.

The silence in the room eventually invaded my plans, and I looked around to see my sisters staring at me with thunderstruck expressions on their faces.

"Arista, didn't you see what happened at the christening?" Attina questioned.

I stared back at her and shook my head. I explained what had happened on the boat and how I had spent the afternoon.

"Oooh a boy!" Adella's eyes lit up and she swam up to me, grabbing my shoulders.

"You have to tell me everything! Hair colour, eye colour, build, smile, was it love at first sight? Did you kiss him? Oh please tell me no, if you have kissed a boy and I have still only kissed that guy for the dare then I am just going to DIE!"

Adella's enthusiasm brought a smile to my face and my heart lifted as I opened my mouth to recount the details, but Attina's voice cut in.

"Adella, not now!" she quieted her, "Arista, Morgana showed up at the christening and threatened to steal Melody away. Contact between the human world and the mer-world has once again been forbidden in order to keep her safe."

My heart plummeted. The reinforced rules made sense now. Of course father would protect his granddaughter by any means necessary. But what did that mean for Edward and I? I stared out the window up towards the surface.

"But what about Arista's new boyfriend?" Adella whined. She turned back to me, "tell me, was he dreamy?"

"Seriously Adella!" Attina reproached her sister, "this is not a joke. Melody's life is at stake. If you two cant see past that then I don't know how you got so selfish."

Adella and I both looked at the floor, shamed, but still wanting to talk about it. Attina, seeing the looks of remorse on our faces, laid a hand on each of our shoulders.

"I'm sorry girls, I know its hard, but for the sake of our niece, we need to do this, and stick to it."

We nodded and she sighed, "ok, well its late, I think we should all get some rest."

Quietly, we all made our way to our beds. I stared up through the window towards the surface, promising myself that I would find a way to speak to Edward tomorrow night. Just once and I would never do it again, but I couldn't stand him up tomorrow night. I just couldn't.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>

**ok *breathes* well that was the longest chapter I think I have ever written! Phew!**

**anyways, hoping you like it so far.. Leave me a note and let me know what you think!**

**KC**


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